Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...Coming to Blu-ray and 4K from Kino Lorber Studio Classics in late October: THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927). It's a 4K restoration from original nitrate prints and will include two separate commentary tracks.

...The November releases from the Criterion Collection will include HELL'S ANGELS (1930).

...Stephen Reginald has reviewed DASHING TO THE END: THE RAY MILLAND STORY at his site Classic Movie Man. It was written by Eric Monder for the University Press of Mississippi Hollywood Legends series.

...A new book from the University of Nebraska Press which caught me eye: 1978: BASEBALL & AMERICA IN THE DISCO ERA by David Krell. I first became an avid Dodgers fan as a teen in the mid to late '70s and have put this book on my wish list.

...The September streaming lineup at the Criterion Channel will include '70s Thrillers and a collection of Robert Altman films.

...I enjoyed this interview with Mel Harris of THIRTYSOMETHING (1987-1991), which, as the author says, I found very relatable as a young mother in the '90s. (I also enjoyed Harris in a stage production of LOVE LETTERS around that era.) A reboot/sequel to the series is a possibility.

...Glenn Erickson's latest reviews at Trailers From Hell include Vincente Minnelli's THE COBWEB (1955), just out on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, and the Sylvia Sidney "Pre-Code Classics" Blu-ray set from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. The Sidney set consists of two films, CONFESSIONS OF A CO-ED (1931) and LADIES OF THE BIG HOUSE (1931); look for a review of that Kino Lorber set here soon.

...Over at Riding the High Country, Colin's latest review is of THE HOUSE ON TELEGRAPH HILL (1951), starring Valentina Cortese, Richard Basehart, and William Lundigan...at Speakeasy Kristina has reviewed SUDDENLY (1954) with Frank Sinatra and Sterling Hayden...and Jessica's latest musical review at Comet Over Hollywood is CAROUSEL (1956)...a film which almost starred Frank Sinatra! In the end, he was replaced by Gordon MacRae.

...For those who live near a theater which features the annual Studio Ghibli Fest, this week's movie, showing through August 27th, is PONYO (2008). I'm hoping to see it in a few days, in the original Japanese language version.

...Coming soon from Angel City Press: ELEMENTS OF LOS ANGELES: EARTH, WATER, AIR, FIRE by D. J. Waldie. The description says it will explore "topics as diverse and resonant as the unlikely history of the Hass avocado, the St. Francis Dam disaster...and the sound of Vin Scully's voice carried across the summer air."

...Happiest birthday wishes to Vera Miles, who turns 95 on August 23rd. She had a fascinating career including working with Ford, Hitchcock, and Disney. She is one of three surviving cast members, along with Patrick Wayne and Lana Wood, from the film which gets my vote as the greatest Western ever made, THE SEARCHERS (1955). Here's an interview with Christopher McKittrick, whose book on Miles was published earlier this year by the University Press of Kentucky. (Thanks to Farran Smith Nehme for the interview link.)

...The American Cinematheque will be screening the terrific crime procedural MYSTERY STREET (1950), starring Ricardo Montalban and Bruce Bennett, on Sunday, August 31st, at the Los Feliz 3 Theatre. Earlier this year I reviewed the film's Blu-ray release.

...Notable Passings: Terence Stamp has passed away at 87. Although I've seen relatively little of his work, I will of course always remember him as General Zod in SUPERMAN (1978)...Joe Caroff, who designed the James Bond 007 logo, has died, one day before turning 104. He also designed the well-remembered poster for WEST SIDE STORY (1961). Caroff was the subject of the documentary BY DESIGN: THE JOE CAROFF STORY (2022).

...Please note that Around the Blogosphere This Week will not appear on August 30th, when I'll be attending the Cinecon Classic Film Festival. The column will return on Saturday, September 6th.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my August 16th column.

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Tonight's Movie: Two Weeks With Love (1950) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

The MGM musical TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE (1950) has just been released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection.

TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE is relatively lesser-known among the great MGM musicals, but it's one of my all-time favorites, and the beautiful new Blu-ray does it full justice.

I last revisited this film a decade ago, in 2015, and rather than completely "reinvent the wheel" I invite readers to click over to that review for my extensive thoughts on a charming movie. I have a lot of love for this film and spent quite a bit of time in that review "digging deep" regarding both my history with the film and my overall feelings about it.

Suffice it to say here that this film about the Robinson family spending their annual two-week vacation in the Catskills is a joyous viewing experience, whether it's awkward young Patti (Jane Powell), newly turned 17, falling head over heels for dashing Demi (Ricardo Montalban) or lighthearted younger sister Melba (Debbie Reynolds) chasing after gangly Billy (Carleton Carpenter) and singing "Aba Daba Honeymoon."

There's no original score, but the music is catchy and delightfully performed, and the story and performers are engaging.

As I wrote in 2015, "It's a slender plot yet suffused with real and recognizable emotions...all told in wonderful color."

The gorgeous Technicolor cinematography was by Alfred Gilks. Direction of this 93-minute film was by Roy Rowland.

Additional cast members include Louis Calhern and Ann Harding as Powell and Reynolds' parents and Tommy Rettig and Gary Gray as their little brothers; Clinton Sundberg as the resort owner; and Phyllis Kirk as the glamorous "other woman" going after Montalban.

The lovely Warner Archive Blu-ray print is from a 1080p HD master from a 4K scan of the original nitrate Technicolor camera negatives. Print and sound quality are excellent.

Disc extras consist of the 1995 PRIVATE SCREENINGS episode with Robert Osborne interviewing Jane Powell; the 10-minute Pete Smith Specialty short CRASHING THE MOVIES (1950); another short, SCREEN ACTORS (1950); and the Tex Avery cartoon GARDEN GOPHER (1950). The disc also includes a song selection menu, always a welcome extra for those of us who enjoy revisiting musical numbers.

This film and Blu-ray are both highly recommended.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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Tonight's Movie: Smooth as Silk (1946) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

I'm especially excited about the newest Dark Side of Cinema XXVI Collection from Kino Lorber.

The set contains two films, DR. BROADWAY (1942) and THE GREAT GATSBY (1949), which are being made available for home viewing for the first time, along with SMOOTH AS SILK (1946), which had a previous DVD release from the Universal Vault Collection.

I've seen and liked all three films previously and decided to start this set revisiting SMOOTH AS SILK. I very much enjoyed watching the DVD in 2020 and thus was very glad to have it upgraded to Blu-ray.

I'll start by mentioning right off the bat that, other than a couple odd flashes of red on Milburn Stone's tie late in this black and white film, the Blu-ray looks terrific.

Favorite Virginia Grey plays ultra-manipulative actress Paula Marlowe, who strings along three different men in her quest for a Broadway role: Her boyfriend, attorney Mark Fenton (Kent Taylor); playboy Don Elliott (Danny Morton); and Don's uncle, Broadway producer Stephen Elliott (John Litel).

In the span of 64 minutes Paula has abandoned the unsuspecting Mark and Don in order to marry Stephen and claim the role she desperately wanted.

As I noted in my review of half a decade ago, it's never really clear why the rejected Mark, a successful attorney, would be driven to murder by Paula's duplicity, but indeed he is, framing Paula in the process.

What I particularly enjoy about this movie is it's simply fun. In other hands this story could be very dark indeed, but it all whizzes by like lightning; the cast all make it very enjoyable, in an entertaining tale which also looks great.

My one complaint, just as in 2020, is that the movie ends extremely abruptly. Perhaps writers Dane Lussier and Kerry Shaw (based on a story by Florence Ryerson and Colin Clements) didn't know where else to go, but I would have liked some closure.

For instance, does Paula's charming, sweet sister Susan (Jane Adams) leave New York and head back home, or does she possibly end up with the detective (Stone) she's been dating, who ended up investigating the murder? Does Paula ever have any introspection about her actions, or simply continue on alone, with her great part for company?

Grey seems to be having a ball as Paula, who will do just about anything -- short of murder, as it turns out -- to get what she wants, while Taylor is equally entertaining as a man who is willing to murder in order to exact revenge. I also really like Stone and Adams in this.

The cast is rounded out by Theresa Harris and Harry Cheshire. The movie was directed by Charles Barton, with cinematography by Woody Bredell.

I'm looking forward to the commentary track by Alan K. Rode, who always does very thorough work; I've recent enjoyed his track on SHANE (1953). The SMOOTH AS SILK disc also contains the movie's trailer plus two additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray collection.

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Tonight's Movie: Brainstorm (1965) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

BRAINSTORM (1965), an interesting crime film directed by actor William Conrad, was just released on an attractive Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection.

I was completely unfamiliar with this movie; it was released by the Warner Archive on DVD way back in 2009 but escaped my notice.

I was attracted to see the film by the director, cast, and plot, and the movie proved to be an entertaining 105 minutes.

The story begins when handsome Jim Grayam (Jeffrey Hunter, billed as Jeff) is driving home from work and spots a car parked on railroad tracks.

Inside the car is the unconscious Lorrie Benson (Anne Francis). Jim drives her car off the tracks just before a train would have hit it. (Given the train's proximity, I was wondering why he didn't just pull her out and run for it!)

Lorrie turns out to be the wife of Jim's boss, Cort Benson (Dana Andrews), the CEO of Benson Industries. Lorrie is miserably unhappy and was attempting suicide when Jim found her, despite having a beautiful little daughter (Victoria Meyerink) to live for.

Lorrie and Jim fall in love, and when Cort finds out about their affair he pulls some power moves to cause problems for Jim and even make others question his sanity.

Jim decides to build on the concerns about his mental stability by killing Cort in public and then pleading guilty; he calculates he'll be declared "not guilty by reason of insanity" and escape the electric chair.

Jim assumes that eventually he and Lorrie will be together...but getting out of the state mental hospital may be harder than he anticipates.

This was an intricately plotted and rather different film, written by Mann Rubin from a story by Larry Marcus. It's dark yet also quite intriguing.

Hunter is excellent gradually unraveling (literally?) his character's layers, as the viewer begins to wonder what's an "act" and what's real. Jim's desperate attraction to a woman who is herself unstable, being willing to kill for her, is just one clue that maybe the bright, sane young tech scientist seen at the start of the film might have been the actual illusion.

Francis is also quite good as a lovely yet somewhat pathetic character who proves to be rather a femme fatale. It was curious to me that she would not leave her husband because he insisted on custody of their little girl...and yet she seemed to spend very little time with her daughter, between her affair and a wild social life. She's a knowing bystander as Jim explains his plan...ultimately, did she just use him?

Andrews often seemed stuck playing villains later in his career, but I enjoy him anyway. He was quite interesting as a man who alternates seeming normality with pure evil. It's never quite clear why his marriage to Lorrie has fallen apart; was it his controlling nature? As he points out, he's certainly given her everything. Were they originally happy together, or did she marry him for his money? I wish that part of the script had been fleshed out more so that we had greater insight into his character.

The great supporting cast includes Viveca Lindfors, Michael Pate, and Phillip Pine as Jim's psychiatrists. The always-welcome Stacy Harris, a Jack Webb regular who like Hunter died too young, is great in a substantial role as Jim's immediate supervisor and friend.

The cast also includes Kathie Browne (Mrs. Darren McGavin), Strother Martin, Richard Kiel, George Pelling, and John Mitchum.

Conrad, a frequent TV director since 1958, directed two other features in 1965. In BRAINSTORM he obtained excellent performances from his cast; the lead characters were all imperfect, with varied shadings of good and evil -- not to mention ambiguity about each character's mental health -- and that made the movie quite fascinating.

Conrad and editor William Ziegler also made some unique choices in their cutting; for instance, a character looks into a mirror, and that cuts to another scene with a mirror. The editing style gives the movie a fast-paced feel despite running an hour and 45 minutes.

I especially appreciated the movie's sleek black and white look, filmed in Panavision by Sam Leavitt; at times the visuals made me think of the good-looking EXPERIMENT IN TERROR (1962) from a few years before.

Henry Mancini did the EXPERIMENT IN TERROR scoring, and George Duning's scoring of the opening credits of BRAINSTORM has a nice Mancini-esque feel as well.

The interior scenes in the Benson Industries office, with fluorescent lighting and early computers, are especially striking. The movie was filmed on locations around Southern California, including Burbank Airport and the Greystone Mansion.

As I was searching to see if I could find a photo of Dana Andrews at the airport I stumbled across a great 2013 post on the movie's locations by Robby Cress at Dear Old Hollywood, and I highly recommend those interested in the movie check it out. It turns out that Jim's apartment in the movie was an office building on the Warner Bros. lot!

Robby, incidentally, also liked the movie, describing it as "a thrilling story, well acted, with beautiful black and white cinematography."

The gleaming Warner Archive Collection print is a 1080p HD master from a 4K scan of the original camera negative. It looks terrific and also has a strong soundtrack.

Disc extras consist of the trailer plus two cartoons, THE HYPO-CHONDRI-CAT (1950) and WELL WORN DAFFY (1965). The cartoons are presented in new HD transfers.

I enjoyed this unusual film and think many viewers will find it worthwhile, particularly those who enjoy crime films and this cast. Kudos to the Warner Archive for making it available in such a beautiful print.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...The American Cinematheque has announced the "first annual" Los Angeles Silent Film Festival, held in conjunction with Retroformat Silent Films and Mount St. Mary's. It will be held at the Los Feliz Theatre from Friday, September 12th, through Sunday, September 14th. Opening night will include a screening of Harold Lloyd in THE FRESHMAN (1925), with live accompaniment by Cliff Retallick, and a tribute to Suzanne Lloyd, keeper of her grandfather's legacy. The complete schedule may be found at the American Cinematheque website.

...Blu-rays of public domain films coming from Film Masters: POINTED HEELS (1929), THE RED HOUSE (1947), and KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL (1952). All will have commentary tracks, with my friend Karen Burroughs Hannsberry doing the honors on THE RED HOUSE. The POINTED HEELS disc will also include a significant collection of Betty Boop cartoons.

...In October Kino Lorber Studio Classics will release a special edition with the roadshow version of FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS (1943). Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman star, directed by Sam Wood.

...Season 5 of ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING is coming September 9th. The trailer is included in this story from The Hollywood Reporter.

...There's a new post up from Bud and RR over at Jeff Arnold's West, on Sam Peckinpah's THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE (1970). This is a movie I don't know at all, and I always enjoy reading their thoughts.

...The September Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray releases will including I DIED A THOUSAND TIMES (1955) and THE BEAST OF THE CITY (1932). I'm especially looking forward to I DIED A THOUSAND TIMES, a HIGH SIERRA (1941) remake which filmed numerous scenes in Lone Pine and nearby Keeler, California.

...Glenn Erickson has reviewed the Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray release of THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE (1945) at Trailers From Hell. He didn't enjoy it as much as I did, but I always find value in reading his takes...Glenn Kenny has reviewed a whole bunch of recent classic film releases in an entertaining column at Some Came Running, and there are more recent reviews from him here.

...For anyone who missed the link in my review of MARCELLA (2024), Merle Oberon biographer Mayukh Sen wrote a very nice piece on Linda Darnell for the Criterion Collection in 2023.

...Lesley Ann Warren turns 79 on August 16th. She was my childhood CINDERELLA (1965), and her live duet with Hayley Mills of "Let's Get Together" from THE PARENT TRAP (1961) at the 2024 Disney D23 Expo was thus an unforgettably thrilling experience.

...Ann Blyth turns 97 on August 16th. I invite readers to visit my past birthday tribute to her, which is filled with movie review links.

...Notable Passings: This year has been exceptionally sad for GENERAL HOSPITAL and its fans, with the losses of longtime cast members Leslie Charleson, Denise Alexander, and Chris Robinson. The news that's hit the hardest of all was learning of the death yesterday of all-time favorite Tristan Rogers, the Australian actor who played Robert Scorpio for 45 years. Rogers' death was announced by GH executive producer Frank Valenti. Rogers was part of two iconic romances on the show, with Finola Hughes and Emma Samms; Samms (seen here) and Rogers went off into the sunset together last November. Rogers also voiced Jake in the Disney cartoon THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER (1990). Update: Tristan Rogers has been remembered by his colleagues.

...Additional Notable Passing: Dan Tana, founder of the famed eponymous restaurant, has passed away at 90.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my August 9th column.

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Tonight's Movie: Marcella (2024) - A Kino Lorber DVD Review

One of the things I appreciate about Kino Lorber is the company's steady stream of documentary releases.

Often these nonfiction films are available from Kino Lorber in affordable DVD formats. Since I enjoy documentaries but don't feel they typically have the same "rewatch value" as other films, the DVD format makes a lot of sense to me.

One of the newest documentary DVDs from Kino Lorber, MARCELLA (2024), is an American Masters program about Italian chef Marcella Hazan.

I'll insert here that this film is among several "foodie" related documentaries from Kino Lorber over the years. Review links for a number of additional cooking-related titles may be found at the end of this post, along with reviews of other Kino Lorber documentary releases on a variety of topics.

I found it interesting that although I love cooking and am familiar with many famous chefs, including Jacques Pepin and Lidia Bastianich, who both appear in MARCELLA, Marcella Hazan was a vaguely familiar yet at the same time relatively unknown name for me.

I realized while watching the documentary that my lack of knowledge about Marcella was probably because she was known for her cookbooks and cooking classes but, hampered by poor English, she never had her own TV program. I did read her editor Judith Jones's 2007 book, which mentions Marcella, but that was close to two decades ago and my memories of those few pages had faded; more importantly, I'd never bought one of Marcella's cookbooks. I'm now considering adding the 30th anniversary edition of ESSENTIALS OF CLASSIC ITALIAN COOKING to my collection.

I was eager to learn more about Marcella, especially after reading that Julia Child called her "my mentor in all things Italian," and I found MARCELLA to be an especially good documentary which really piqued my interest in exploring more deeply into the subject's career and writing.

As I began watching, right off the bat it was as though my words collided, because who should be one of the main narrators but Mayukh Sen, the Merle Oberon biographer I met just last weekend at a UCLA screening of DARK WATERS (1944).

Sen not only writes on film (including a nice essay on Linda Darnell for Criterion), he's a food writer who has won a prestigious James Beard award. Marcella was one of the women profiled in his 2021 book TASTE MAKERS: SEVEN IMMIGRANT WOMEN WHO REVOLUTIONIZED FOOD IN AMERICA, which I just ordered; here's an additional piece he wrote on Hazan for The New Yorker in 2021.

I found a connection with Hazan in another way upon learning from the film that when Marcella moved to the United States in the mid '50s, she first began to learn English by listening to Dodgers baseball. She surely would have been listening part of the time to the great Vin Scully, who began broadcasting Brooklyn Dodgers games in 1950.

When Marcella, a science scholar and teacher, moved from Italy to New York with her husband Victor, she found herself without much to do. Encouraged by Victor, she began learning to cook, specifically food from their native Italy. She was dismayed by American supermarkets, with all of their prepackaged foods, and had to go to considerable lengths to find markets with fresh ingredients.

Victor had spent some of his formative years in the United States, so when it came time for Marcella to write a cookbook, it was Victor who spent his evenings after work translating and typing up manuscripts; they seem to have been a wonderful team. Over the years they collaborated on many cookbooks, and Victor also supported Marcella as she gave cooking classes both in the U.S. and Italy; eventually he became known himself as an expert on Italian wines.

Victor is still with us today at the age of 97, and Marcella and Victor's son Giuliano is also a cookbook author.

Marcella was a lifelong smoker, though she lived until the age of 89, when she passed away due to emphysema. It was a bit hard to imagine the students in the lovely cooking classes described in the film learning and smelling the food through a haze of cigarette smoke, but according to the documentary, that's the way things were. Different times!

Marcella died in 2013, but she's fondly recalled in the documentary by her husband and son, who are each very articulate, as well as by several other food journalists and chefs. Their comments are supplemented by Marcella's own words from a memoir, read by actress Maria Tucci.

MARCELLA runs 97 minutes. It was written and directed by Peter Miller.

The DVD print has a fine picture and sound, as one would expect from a film of recent vintage. Disc extras consist of the trailer plus a gallery for four additional releases available from Kino Lorber.

I really enjoyed MARCELLA, learned a great deal, and recommend it.

Previous reviews of documentaries released by Kino Lorber: OBIT: LIFE ON DEADLINE (2016), HAROLD AND LILLIAN: A HOLLYWOOD LOVE STORY (2015), DAWSON CITY: FROZEN TIME (2016), THE GODDESSES OF FOOD (2016), BOMBSHELL: THE HEDY LAMARR STORY (2017), CHEF FLYNN (2018), LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE (2019), DIANA KENNEDY: NOTHING FANCY (2019), THE DONUT KING (2020), FIDDLER'S JOURNEY TO THE BIG SCREEN (2022), THE AUTOMAT (2021), FACING NOLAN (2022), SOUTH: ERNEST SHACKLETON AND THE ENDURANCE EXPEDITION (1919), MADE IN ENGLAND: THE FILMS OF POWELL AND PRESSBURGER (2024), MERCHANT-IVORY: THE DOCUMENTARY (2024), MY NAME IS ALFRED HITCHCOCK (2022).

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this DVD.

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Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...There was very good news last week from the Criterion Connection, which announced, via an article by film historian Imogen Sara Smith, that the Eclipse series will return, now on Blu-ray instead of DVD. Along with first-time releases, some prior Eclipse DVD sets, including the set of Lubitsch pre-Code musicals, will be released as Blu-ray upgrades. My favorite Eclipse sets include Late Ozu, Nikkatsu Noir, and Gainsborough Pictures melodramas, and I'm excited to see what will come out in the future.

...Karen Burroughs Hannsberry pays tribute to the noir work of actress Cathy O'Donnell in her Noir Nook column at Classic Movie Hub.

...The complete run of Jack Webb's EMERGENCY! TV series (1972-79) is coming to Blu-ray. This is a good spot to share, for those who may have missed it at the time, that in August 2022 I attended a 50th anniversary tribute to the show featuring surviving stars Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe, who remain close friends to this day.

...Programming exec Michelle Vicary, who left Hallmark Channel in 2021, is returning to the network as head of programming.

...HBO Max, which recently reverted from Max to its original name, will be cracking down on password sharing soon.

...Will the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood ever reopen? The Hollywood Reporter reports that the owners don't seem interested in opening it or even leasing it to another company.

...The AMC movie theater chain has annoyed just about everyone, including studios, with longer trailers and ads, and may be shortening their pre-show advertising.

...At Greenbriar Picture Shows John McElwee has a nice piece on classical music in classic movies.

...Chris Yogerst now has a Substack, Adventures in the Archive, and pays tribute to SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) in its 75th anniversary year...And over at IndieWire, actress Nancy Olson, who turned 97 last month, shares memories of making the film with Jim Hemphill.

...Reviews, reviews, and more reviews: Colin reviews George Montgomery in ROBBERS' ROOST (1955) at Riding the High Country...At Comet Over Hollywood Jessica has reviewed Esther Williams, Howard Keel, Ann Miller, and more in MGM's TEXAS CARNIVAL (1951)...At Trailers From Hell Glenn Erickson reviews the new Warner Archive Blu-ray of THE CITADEL (1938), starring Robert Donat and Rosalind Russell...Ted at Just a Cineast looks at a fun MGM "B" movie, CODE TWO (1953)...Tynan of 4 Star Films looks at Harold Lloyd in SAFETY LAST! (1923)...and Kristina reviews the great BORN TO KILL (1947), starring Claire Trevor and Lawrence Tierney, at Speakeasy.

...Thomas Hobbs of the BBC recently wrote a nice article on Bernard Hermann's score for PSYCHO (1960), which includes quotes from my friends Brandon Brown and Steven C. Smith. Smith, author of biographies of Bernard Herrmann and Max Steiner, is the author of HITCHCOCK & HERRMANN: THE FRIENDSHIP & FILM SCORES THAT CHANGED CINEMA, which will be published by Oxford University Press in October. Brown has been working on a documentary on the composer.

...Thanks to Elisabeth for passing on these great "recycled costumes" posts. I was amazed to learn that when guest-starring on THE WALTONS in 1974, favorite actress Linda Purl wore a dress from Ann Sheridan's GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE (1943) wardrobe over three decades earlier...and check out how a Mary Astor dress from LITTLE WOMEN (1949) later ended up in Columbia Pictures Westerns, including on Barbara Hale in 7TH CAVALRY (1956).

...Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting into two companies, Warner Bros. and Discovery. While most TV networks will be on the Discovery side, Turner Classic Movies will remain with Warner Bros.

...I liked THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (2025) so much that I did something fairly rare for me these days and went and saw it again, just 12 days after my first viewing. If anything, I loved it even more. I added a brief note on my repeat watch to my original review.

...Speaking of Marvel, Variety recently ranked 54 Marvel movies and shows. I strongly disagree with some of their rankings -- THE FANTASTIC FOUR is certainly in my Top 5 and might be my favorite -- while agreeing with others, such as ranking AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019) and WANDAVISION (2021) in the Top 5. I present their list here so Marvel fans can peruse it, and probably argue with it, themselves.

...It's been a long time since I've attended a John Williams concert at the Hollywood Bowl, and I'm glad to say I'll be at one later this month! It will feature music from JAWS (1974), RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981), E.T. (1982), and more, and conclude with "The Throne Room" from the original STAR WARS (1977), which was our wedding recessional.

...Notable Passings: Loni Anderson, fondly remembered by many of us as Jennifer on WKRP IN CINCINNATI (1978-82), has sadly passed on at the age of 79...Alfie Wise, who appeared in many films starring Anderson's ex, Burt Reynolds, has died at 82...Director Jonathan Kaplan, the son of actress Frances Heflin and the nephew of Van Heflin, has died at 77...Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell has died at 97. Lovell was notably played by Tom Hanks in the classic APOLLO 13 (1995).

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my July 26th column.

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Tonight's Movie: Law and Order (1932) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

In 2024 I had the special experience of seeing the world premiere of the restoration of LAW AND ORDER (1932) at the TCM Classic Film Festival. I wrote some brief thoughts on that screening for my Classic Movie Hub Western RoundUp column a few weeks after the festival concluded.

I'm happy to say that LAW AND ORDER, later known on re-release as GUNS A'BLAZIN, is now available on a beautiful Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

The terrific print, crafted from two 35mm prints, is from the 4K restoration by Universal Pictures and the Film Foundation. You simply won't find a film from 1932 looking or sounding better.

This fascinating, gritty 75-minute film, an early spin on the legend of Wyatt Earp, is important as one of the first truly "adult" Westerns of the '30s.

Tom Reed's screenplay was based on a John Huston adaptation of the novel SAINT JOHNSON by W.R. Burnett. Huston is also credited with dialogue in the opening credits.

As with Burnett's book, the Earp name was changed in the movie to avoid potential litigation with Earp's widow Josephine, but anyone familiar with Earp's story will recognize the familiar threads woven throughout.

Huston's father Walter stars as Frame "Saint" Johnson, who as the movie opens already has a reputation as "the killingest peace officer that ever lived."

Frame and his brother Luther (Russell Hopton) and his good friends Ed Brandt (Harry Carey Sr.) and Deadwood (Raymond Hatton) are roaming the West after taming Dodge City. They decide to head for Tombstone, Arizona, where Saint ultimately takes the job of marshal.

Tombstone is a wild place, and Johnson eventually deputizes his brother and friends and bans citizens from carrying guns in town. This leads to a clash with the Northrup (aka Clanton) clan (Harry Woods, Ralph Ince, and Richard Alexander) and a deadly showdown.

This is a tough movie, directed by Edward L. Cahn, which feels authentic; my husband commented that the bar scenes seemed like what it really might have been like back in the old West. Indeed, some of the extras could have been around since the late 19th century! Earp himself had only passed away three years earlier, in 1929.

The cast is perfect, with the weathered-looking Huston and Carey especially excellent, as one might expect. Carey is a particular favorite and gives a really wonderful performance in the movie as a man who loves his shotgun.

Viewers will also find familiar Western movie faces such as Walter Brennan, Andy Devine, and Russell Simpson among the cast.

The black and white cinematography by Jackson Rose is absolutely stupendous. There's a great scene which starts in one room and the camera gradually backs up through a doorway as the characters walk forward toward the audience, into another room.

In another scene the camera swings across an incredible action scene on the streets of Tombstone, as horseback-riding, gun-shooting cowboys race past, then the camera gradually swivels up to a window. Leonard Maltin, who just wrote about this film, explained that shot was accomplished thanks to what was known at Universal Pictures as "The Broadway Crane," built in 1928.

While most of the film was shot on the backlot, there's a beautifully composed scene filmed at the striking Vasquez Rocks. I shared photos of the area here in a 2020 post.

Kino Lorber's disc extras include a commentary track featuring Max Allan Collins and Heath Holland; a 38-minute talk on the movie and its importance in the Western genre by historian Bertrand Tavernier; and a gallery of four trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber. I have watched the Tavernier featurette and found it interesting, and I look forward to the commentary.

Even better is the inclusion of an additional film on the disc, WITHOUT HONOR (1932), starring Carey Sr. It comes with its own commentary track by Western historian Toby Roan. I expect to review that film here at a future date.

Recommended.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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A Visit to Evergreen Cemetery

I have a number of photo posts I'm hoping to catch up on sharing, and here is the first one!

Last April we visited Evergreen Cemetery in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Evergreen (seen above in an official cemetery photo) is an historic cemetery where a number of important figures in Southern California history are buried, with recognizable last names such as Van Nuys, Hollenbeck, and Lankershim.

Jotham Bixby, a founding father of my birthplace, Long Beach, is also buried there. I knew some of the Bixbys years ago when I worked for a law firm which represented them. As can be seen below, the cemetery isn't particularly well kept, but it's quite interesting.

For a variety of reasons Evergreen became the final resting place for many Chinese, Japanese, and black Angelenos. Medal of Honor recipient Joe Hayashi, the son of Japanese immigrants -- who was himself born in Salinas, California -- is among those buried at Evergreen. He died in combat in Italy in 1945.

We made this trip particularly to visit the gravesites of three beloved black entertainers.

Our first stop was at the gravesite of Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, who of course appeared not only in movies but on Jack Benny's radio and TV programs.

My husband regularly listens to the Benny radio show, so this was a special visit for him.

Our next stop was at the burial place of one of my very favorite character actresses, Louise Beavers. I especially love her in HOLIDAY INN (1942) and MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE (1948).

Louise is buried with her mother, Ernestine Monroe Beavers. Louise's father died the year after Louise's 1962 passing and is buried at Evergreen under a separate gravestone.

Sadly, Louise's name was never added to the bottom of her mother's gravestone. Fortunately FindaGrave, an invaluable resource, has documented her final resting place.

Finally, we visited the gravesite of Matthew "Stymie" Beard, who was one of the Little Rascals, aka Our Gang.

As is always the case on such visits, it is moving to have the opportunity to pay our respects to those whose work has lived on to entertain us, while also learning more about Southern California and filmmaking history.

Additional photo posts on the final resting places of historic Hollywood figures: A Visit to Forest Lawn Glendale, Part 1, A Visit to Forest Lawn Glendale, Part 2, A Visit to the Forest Lawn Museum, A Visit to Hollywood Forever Cemetery (2014), A Visit to Westwood Village Memorial Park - The Musicians, A Visit to Westwood Village Memorial Park - The Comedians, A Visit to Westwood Village Memorial Park - The Actors, A Visit to Westwood Village Memorial Park - Writers, Directors, and More, A Visit to Holy Cross Cemetery, Part 1, A Visit to Holy Cross Cemetery, Part 2, A Visit to Holy Cross Cemetery, Part 3, A Visit to Desert Memorial Park, Los Angeles National Cemetery, A Visit to Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Part 1 (2017), A Visit to Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Part 2 (2017), A Visit to Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Part 3 (2019), A Visit to Forest Lawn Cathedral City, A Visit to Oakwood Memorial Park, A Visit to Hillside Memorial Park, Part 1, A Visit to Hillside Memorial Park, Part 2, A Visit to Hollywood Forever Cemetery (2019), A Visit to Woodlawn Cemetery, A Visit to Valley Oaks Memorial Park, A Visit to Valhalla Cemetery, A Visit to Pacific View Memorial Park, A Visit to Glen Haven Memorial Park, A Visit to Forest Lawn Glendale (2020), A Visit to Calvary Cemetery, A Visit to Home of Peace Memorial Park, Visits to Sedona and Las Vegas Cemeteries, A Visit to Forest Lawn Glendale (2022), Visits to Orange County Cemeteries (Holy Sepulcher Cemetery and El Toro Memorial Park), A Visit to Inglewood Park Cemetery, A Visit to Mt. Sinai Memorial Park, A Visit to Palm Springs (Coachella Valley Public Cemetery), A Visit to Marysvale Cemetery, A Visit to Holy Cross Cemetery, Part 1 (2022), A Visit to Holy Cross Cemetery, Part 2 (2022), A Visit to Rose Hills Memorial Park, A Visit to San Fernando Mission Cemetery, A Visit to Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Part 1 (2023), A Visit to Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Part 2 (2023), and Memorial Service for Edmund Gwenn.

Articles on the final resting places of Western stars and filmmakers from my Western RoundUp column at Classic Movie Hub: May 2019, February 2022, November 2, 2022, November 29, 2022, April 2023, November 2023, March 2024, July 2024, and February 2025.

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